SideStep, Inc. (www.sidestep.com), a travel search engine and winner of the Forbes "Best of the Web" award, announced on December 20 a marketing partnership with Hyatt Corporation (www.hyatt.com), a leading hotelier, which manages, franchises or operates 124 hotels and resorts in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. Through this partnership, SideStep will drive consumers directly to Hyatt's Web site www.Hyatt.com to book their travel. Currently, there are 214 Hyatt hotels and resorts around the world.
SideStep will exchange product, pricing and availability information with the Hyatt site via SideStepTotalConnect. With TotalConnect, SideStep can efficiently communicate with a partner's site using the travel provider's preferred protocol: XML, SOAP, HTTP, CORBA or even EDI. TotalConnect's power and flexibility enable new partners to begin working with SideStep immediately and without making any technical changes.
Hyatt's vice president Joan Lowell said that SideStep offers a range of marketing programs to help Hyatt reach the discerning travelers Hyatt targets, that SideStep's demographics are compelling, that their core customers are affluent, well-educated professionals who travel frequently, and that by directing these prospects to the Hyatt Web site, SideStep not only helps Hyatt to further develop its most cost-efficient sales channel but also enables Hyatt to forge direct relationships between travelers and Hyatt’s brand.
SideStep's vice president Don Smith said that SideStep provides its marketing partners with access to millions of avid travelers, which is unmatched in the travel search sector, that SideStep also offers a diverse array of marketing opportunities, enabling travel providers to promote their brands to consumers at all points in the travel planning process, that Hyatt offers compelling hotel choices world wide, and that as their marketing partner, SideStep will help Hyatt to promote the distinctive attributes and services that these properties offer to an audience that is eager to hear the Hyatt story.
